Barbie: Revenge, Redemption, and Realization
by Writer in Da House
Summary: Set after Barbie: Dolphin Magic. As Barbie's fame continues to grow, some figures from her and her sister's pasts team up to ultimately pay the 4 of them out. As the net tightens, Barbie and her allies find themselves caught up in a world of lies, betrayal, and vengeance. Will they be able to persevere in order to overcome this new threat?
1. A Mysterious Meeting

Chapter 1: A Mysterious Meeting

Marlo sat at the plain brown desk in the center of her private study in her Miami apartment gulping down another bottle of alcohol. It had been about 6 months since the events of _Barbie Dolphin Magic_ and the failure of her attempt to smuggle gemstone dolphins out of an island bay in the Caribbean. As for her research facility, it had been taken away from her and since then, she couldn't find anyone willing to hire her due to attempted smuggling on her criminal record. Her former intern and Barbie's boyfriend Ken had long since gone off and had been offered a well-paying internship at another facility in the Bahamas as a reward for his efforts in rescuing the gemstone dolphins. Frustrated and bitter, she was now unemployed and absolutely hated the Roberts family.

"Ugh, if it weren't for that meddling girl, her mermaid friend, and her sisters, I'd be filthy rich by now!" she grumbled as she threw a throwing dart at a picture of Barbie on the opposite wall.

She was about to gulp down another swig of the alcohol when her phone rang. Sighing, she put down the bottle and picked it up.

"Hello, who is this and what do you want?" she asked exhaustedly.

At first there was no response but then, a mysterious voice said "I hear you have some unfinished business with Roberts eh? Well, I think I and my associates can help with that."

Marlo was both intrigued and puzzled. There were others that the Roberts family had "wronged"?

"Well uh, yes. But whose business is it besides mine and more importantly, who is this?" she asked.

The voice on the other end of the line crackled slightly but still remained audible. "I have my ways." said the voice in a dark tone. "This line may be tapped so I must be brief. If you want to discuss this further in person, meet me at the MacArthur Causeway at nine o'clock tonight. One of my associates will pick you up in a black sedan."

"Wait, you never told me what your name was." said Marlo.

At first there was silence but then the voice spoke up. "You can call me Dunbar." stated the voice before the phone was hung up.

As she put down the phone, Marlo couldn't recall a time when she had felt so nervous yet so anticipatory at the same time. She also couldn't believe that there might be others that shared her feelings about Barbie. Glancing at her watch, she decided to put on a pair of grey sweat pants, a black top and a black trench coat before heading out the door into the misty night.

MacArthur Causeway, 8:59 pm

The night was a bit damp and there was mist swirling all around the 97-year-old causeway that separated Miami Beach from mainland Florida. Marlo glanced anxiously around her looking for a vehicle of the description that Dunbar had given her. Just as the time on her watch turned to nine, a large, black vehicle drove up and stopped right next to her. The door opened revealing a short, pudgy man dressed in a black boiler suit and black baseball cap.

"You must be Marlo." said the man. "Get in before anyone sees us."

Marlo hesitantly climbed into the passenger seat of the vehicle and the man put the sedan in drive and took off. At first there was an awkward silence but then the man spoke up.

"I suppose we should get to know each other." he said simply. "My name is Joe and as you probably already know, I'm an associate of Dunbar's. I'm from western Miami but I originally came from Willows, Wisconsin where I worked at a carnival called "Willowfest". My partner Marty also came here with me from Willows. How about you?"

Marlo glanced suspiciously at Joe but decided to speak up. "And as you probably already know, I'm Marlo. I used to be a marine biologist before little miss protect the dolphins and her sisters put an end to that." she stated a bit harshly.

Joe perked up slightly. "You don't say." he said curiously. "Me and my partner Marty ran into the same trouble in the caverns under Willows with the same quartet of girls a short time ago but you'll hear more about that later. What was the oldest one's name? Barbara or Barbie or something like that."

"The second one you said." said Marlo. Joe simply nodded and they drove on into the night towards a well-kept but shady section of the city. After about 10 more minutes, the sedan pulled up behind a 4-story building on the edge of a street. Joe and Marlo got out of the vehicle and Joe showed a slip of paper to a large guard who nodded and let them in. The building was a bit old but was in fairly good condition with narrow corridors and several closed rooms on either side of the hall. Finally, they came to a large wooden door at the end of the hall where Joe stopped and turned to face Marlo.

"Well, here we are." he said. "Remember to not be afraid or hesitant to tell him every part of your story. You have no idea how much he knows and what he has to offer."

Marlo nodded and Joe opened the door. Inside, there was a large window facing out towards the street on the opposite side of the room and an ornate, oak desk in the center. There was a man at the desk chair facing away from the duo and towards the window. Abruptly, he swiveled his chair around and Marlo got a good look at him. He was about 6' in height, had neatly combed dark brown hair, and wore a black suit with a light green tie. Marlo had already guessed who this was. Dunbar.


	2. Memories and Motives

Chapter 2: Memories and Motives

Dunbar stood up and half-frowned, half-grinned. "At long last. Welcome to my office Marlo. As you have probably already guessed, I am Dunbar. I see you've met my associate Joe here." he stated as he motioned to Joe who nodded in acknowledgement. "Come, sit down. The three of us have much to discuss."

Dunbar motioned towards 3 armchairs where he, Marlo, and Joe sat down. He then lit a cigarette and exhaled the smoke, taking a long, deep sigh. "So Marlo, I hear that you have some unfinished business with the Roberts girls eh? Well, as I said over the phone, now is the time to discuss that matter. My sources have informed me of some of the minor details but I would like to hear it from you." he stated.

Marlo scowled, recalling the events from 6 months ago at the island resort and her former research facility.

"I used to have a research facility close to an island resort where I would study marine organisms close to the shoreline. One day, I learned that 4 rare gemstone dolphins lived off the coast of the island in the bay near the resort. I immediately took an interest, knowing that they would be worth a lot of money if I was able to capture them. So, I laid bait in the rehabilitation area and arranged a pilot from a sideshow company named Hugo to pick up the dolphins once I had them trapped. But then Barbie, the girlfriend of my intern Ken and her sisters came along and discovered the whole plot. I now know it was the 3 younger ones that had been eavesdropping on my phone conversation with Hugo as well as being the ones who informed Barbie of my plot in the first place. They were somehow able to get the dolphins out of the rehabilitation area and led Hugo and I on a crazy goose chase around the bay before the dolphins got away and I lost my research facility."

Dunbar and Joe took in Marlo's story with interest and a curious fascination. After a few moments of silence, Dunbar spoke up.

"I see." he said thoughtfully. "Well, as you've figured out by now, you're not the only one who has unfinished business with the Roberts; Barbie in particular. As for me, I used to work at an agency called International Intelligence and Innovation Agency or I3 for short. I worked there as a secret agent but the whole time, I knew I could do a better job of running the agency than Zoe, the current head of I3. So, I decided to deploy the use of a newly developed secret weapon to disable the entire electric and internet grid of I3 so that I could finally take over but likewise with you, Barbie along with 2 of her friends and a tech operative named Lazlo ruined my plans by protecting the protecting the grid and disabling the master weapon. Thankfully because of my high rank, I was somehow able to avoid a long jail sentence and only after a little while, I escaped thanks to yet another associate of mine. You'll meet him shortly. Since then, I have been active in the criminal underworld, doing business with well-known crime bosses up and down the East Coast, specifically smuggling. In part, I owe some of my success to the skills I gained while working at I3. I know how special agents think and operate as well as how to outwit and even take them out if and when necessary. Permanently." he added in a sinister tone.

Marlo was in awe at Dunbar's story but then her attention shifted over to Joe. "If I recall correctly Joe, you said that you had a similar story to tell while we were on our way here. Do you mind sharing it with us?"

Joe straightened up. "Of course. After all, I did say that you would hear about it later and later is now." With that, he took a deep breath to collect his thoughts and began.

"Not too long ago, my partner Marty and I lived and worked in a town called Willows up in Wisconsin. He and I worked at an annual carnival called "Willowfest" but at the time, Willows was in danger of going bankrupt and Willowfest was on the verge of closing down. Well, that year, that Barbie girl and her sisters came to visit friends and family and somehow, they stumbled upon an old treasure map as well as the legend that the town's founders had hidden a treasure deep underneath Willows to ensure that the town would always prosper. Marty and I eavesdropped and spied on them a number of times in order to gain Intel on the treasure's location as well as some of the clues leading to it. Heck, we even stole the backpack and tablet of one of the girls. I don't recall her name exactly but I heard Barbie refer to her as "Skipp" or something like that. Well anyways, we followed the 4 of them into the caverns and after a drop on a dumbwaiter and a crazy ride down the underground river, we caught up to them and were ready to claim the treasure as ours when the girls' puppies attacked us and tied us up next to a fountain. The girls then claimed the treasure and donated it to Willows."

Marlo stared at Joe. "Interesting." she commented. "And what happened after that? How did you get here?"

"I was just getting to that." said Joe. "Afterwards, we were turned into the city but Mayor Jenkins had to let us go because we never committed any real crimes. We just had different motives for finding the treasure. We decided to leave Willows because I felt there was nothing left for us there and we headed east. Marty and I worked a number of odd jobs and various places in several cities; nothing fancy or noteworthy but they all paid better than working at Willowfest and we were able to save some money. Later on, while we were working for a shipping company in Jacksonville, I met Dunbar here. He took an interest in Marty and I and offered us some positions as his associates. Well, it seemed like a pretty darn good deal because it paid better than going legit, housing and supplies were provided, and working times were much more flexible so we quit our jobs, moved to Miami and now, here I am. It wasn't until later that Dunbar confided in me his background and the surprising fact that both of our lives had been ruined by the same person."

Dunbar got up to fetch some more cigarettes. As he was returning, he had a thoughtful look on his face. "So you see Marlo. You aren't alone. I have heard Joe's story before but I enjoy it and yours too because it reminds me that we have so much in common. All of our former personal pursuits, ruined by one person: Barbie." he said with disdain.

All Marlo could do was stare in awe. These two people had their lives ruined by Barbie as well. It really was a small world after all.


	3. A Plot in the Making

Chapter 3: A Plot in the Making

Dunbar lit another cigarette and motioned for Joe and Marlo to follow him. They crossed the room over to another tall door where he paused. "I believe it's time for you to meet the man who got me out of prison so quickly and my right hand man." he said.

He then opened the door revealing a large room full of computers, game consuls, and electronic gadgets. In the far corner of the room sat a 20 year-old man with short dirty-blonde hair and black shorts and t-shirt. The man spun around in his swivel chair to face the trio.

"Hello Dunbar. Joe." he said coolly. "I see you brought along the guest that you were talking about earlier. You must be Marlo. My name is Blade and it's good to meet ya. Dunbar told me that you wish to do some business with us."

"Yes. Why don't we get down to that now that intros are out of the way." said Marlo.

Dunbar smirked. "Well said Marlo. Now, I imagine that the three of you have been waiting to hear my master plan to pay out Barbie."

Joe spoke up first. "Are we gonna post an embarrassing photo or meme of her on the internet?" he asked.

"Are we going to dismantle her fashion business?" inquired Marlo.

Dunbar gave them an odd stare. "Those are all good guesses but no. We're going to make Barbie pay for the 3 things that she cares about the most."

Joe, Marlo, and Blade looked at each other and then back at Dunbar quizzingly. "Three things? What are those 3 things?" asked Marlo.

"Uh, yeah." added Joe.

Dunbar gave the most sinister sneer he had given all night. "Three not-so-little things that Barbie would not be able to function without. Her sisters!" he finished dramatically as lightning and thunder crashed outside.

Marlo looked surprised, Joe looked awestruck and Blade was relatively unaffected.

"Gah, I should've known." groaned Joe as he face palmed.

Marlo gained an "ah-hah" look on her face. "Should've guessed." she muttered. "Her and those 3 snooping brats are inseparable." She then gained an evil smirk. "But if we have them, Barbie won't be able to live with herself. She'd become all depressed and we'd make a crapload of money from the ransom."

Dunbar nodded. "Exactly. Barbie would be willing to pay anything to have them back. And it would make up for the losses we sustained during our previous ambitions."

"Great plan boss, but how are we gonna do it?" asked Joe.

Blade spoke up. "The first step in any plan is to dig up dirt on your targets through any means possible. And the best way is by using the internet." he stated as he turned back to the laptop.

"And how are we going to do that?" asked Marlo.

Dunbar put his cigarettes away and stood beside Blade to face Joe and Marlo. "Blade here is an expert computer and electronic systems hacker. That's how he helped get me out of I3's holding cells a while back by temporarily disabling the grid around Hollywood. He can also dig up information about anything or anyone on the internet. Isn't that right Blade?"

Blade gave an arrogant smirk. "You bet boss. In fact, I have the best source of information already pulled up!"

Joe and Marlo gathered around Blade's laptop along with Dunbar. "So, what's your oh-so-great source of information?" questioned Joe.

Blade pulled up several new tabs and clicked on the first one that came up. On the screen appeared a colorful blog filled with pictures and textual posts. One of the most recent posts was a picture of 5 girls and a young blonde man around a fire pit roasting marshmallows.

"I give you, the blog of PJ Sherwood, or should I say, Skipper Roberts!" he said excitedly.

"Hey, I know her!" exclaimed Joe. "She's the one Marty and I stole the backpack and tablet from back in Willows!"

"And she's the girl who hacked my master device, and tried synching the passcode for the gate into her tablet so she could release the gemstone dolphins!" added Marlo.

Blade stared at the laptop screen thoughtfully. "Looks like you two know more about her than me." he said as he scrolled down the list of pictures and posts. "You know what's funny? She publishes things in the blog using the name "PJ Sherwood", but in several of her videos and posts, she mentions her real name! Not very secure or secretive if you ask me."

Dunbar gave a signature smirk. "That fast eh? Great work Blade! Now, we have a source of dirt we can use to aid us in our master plan!" he stated giving Blade a slap on the back.

Blade didn't hear as he, Marlo, and Joe were now engrossed in Skipper's blog. "Damn, this girl really needs to be careful about what she puts on the internet. A lot of this stuff is personal." he remarked. "Someone could use this stuff to plot against her."

Joe chuckled darkly. "Yeah, someone like us!" he exclaimed as he, Dunbar, Marlo, and Blade shared an evil laugh.

After calming down, Marlo spoke up. "This is great and all, but how are we going to use this blog to plot against Barbie?" she asked.

Blade sat up. "Easy. Take a look at the most recent posting. It says "Hangin' out with my sissies. Can't wait to head out to the Channel Islands in a few weeks for vacay!" Man, this girl gets personal! We now know what she and her sisters are doing in a few weeks."

Dunbar chuckled darkly and shook his head. "With this Skipper girl posting information like this, how much easier can this get? Not to mention that a few weeks is plenty of time to get all of our resources together to make this plan work."

He glanced over at Joe, Blade, and Marlo, but they were still engrossed in Skipper's blog. "Uh, guys, are any of you listening?" he asked.

Blade glanced up. "Oh, uh, yeah, we were. But, we were also checking out some interesting stats and facts on a few other websites." He pulled up a new tab. "This photo sharing and vlogging site says that Skipper's photo blog from their Caribbean vacation and the dolphin rescue won first prize in a photography competition. Her blog is also one of the most followed blogs on the West Coast."

Marlo grimaced. She didn't like being reminded of the events from 6 months prior when the Roberts and Ken foiled her dolphin smuggling operation.

"If we're going to do a ransom, how much are we gonna charge?" asked Joe.

Blade turned back to his laptop and after a few short minutes, hacked into a financial account. "Guys, I hacked into Barbie's financing and checking account, and she's loaded."

Dunbar briefly glanced at the numbers. "No kidding. She's a super model, fashion designer, and actress, owns a chain of boutiques, and uhhhh, apparently owns a ton of Apple iPhone and Call of Fashion 3 video game stock."

"Not to mention her and her sisters got a small share of the treasure of Willows from Mayor Jenkins as a "finder's fee". All the gold, pearls, and gems in that small wagon easily totaled up to at least 5 million dollars." grumbled Joe.

"Yes. We can actually do this! We're gonna do this!" said Marlo, getting excited.

"Hell yeah!" yelled Joe. "We're gonna be stinking rich!"

"And I'll be known in the criminal underworld for masterminding one of the greatest kidnappings of the decade!" roared Dunbar. "Mwa! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha-."

"Uh hey boss…" said a meek voice from the doorway.

Dunbar, Marlo, Joe, and Blade stopped laughing and turned to the doorway to see a tall, thin man wearing a pair of work jeans and a white, sleeveless shirt.

"Marty! How many times have I told you to knock before coming in here?" exclaimed Dunbar, slightly annoyed.

"Uh, I uh…" stammered Marty before Dunbar cut him off.

"Ugh, it was a rhetorical question Marty." said Dunbar. "Anyway, what is it? Can't you see that the 4 of us are busy?"

Marty hesitated for a moment before holding up a mobile phone. "There's a call for you. It's from Chicago."

Dunbar thought for a moment. "Tell them I'll be with them in a little while. Uh, you know what? I'll just call them back later."

The voice on the other end of the mobile phone in Marty's hand began blabbering on about something and it didn't sound too happy.

"That might not be a good idea boss." said Marty. "This guy says he can't hold forever and if you don't take the call now, he'll-."

"Alright fine! Tell him I'm coming right now!" grumbled Dunbar. "Sorry Blade, Marlo. Joe. I've got to take this." he apologized as he left with Marty, leaving Joe and Marlo in the tech office with Blade.

After a few moments, Marlo spoke up. "Uh, so, about that plan. Does anyone even have one yet?" she asked.

Joe and Blade glanced at each other for a moment. "Not at the moment because it's a bit too early. Right now, we're thinking about nabbing them when they go to the Channel Islands but nothing's definite just yet." replied Joe. "Blade still has to get more Intel, and once we have it, we have to figure out how to make use out of it. But don't worry. I'm sure that you and Dunbar will think of a few things along the way."

"Yeah, whenever anything involving tech comes up, tell me to hack it and I will." added Blade, turning back to his laptop.

"Dunbar also has connections from all over the country as you just observed a few moments ago. He's quite well-known in the criminal underworld now, mainly for training and giving combat lessons to associates and foot soldiers in the smuggling business. " stated Joe. "Travelling and raising necessary manpower will never be a problem."

Marlo walked out of the tech office and back into Dunbar's office where Dunbar and Marty had long since left, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She was still curious as to what Dunbar smuggled and even more intrigued at how he had developed so many connections. She was even more interested in what sort of plan Dunbar and Blade would form up later.

"It may be a few months, but that just means more time to savor the moment." she thought to herself with a sinister grin. "And when the moment does come, I'll be sure to make it personal."

***More updates coming later!


	4. Squabbles and Schemes

Chapter 4: Squabbles and Schemes

Notice: This chapter contains a little bit of strong language.

* * *

 _Several weeks later…_

 _Roberts Mansion, 1959 Malibu Way Malibu CA, 90265_

Barbie, Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea were busy getting their things together to head out to the Channel Islands to meet up with Ken, who was also on vacation back from his new internship in the Bahamas.

"Chelsea, is all your stuff packed yet?" Barbie called up the stairs.

"Just a moment. I need to find my favorite plush toy." Chelsea replied.

Barbie then heard groaning and turned to see Stacie lugging a surf board and two large beach bags down the stairs.

"Uh, Stacie, do you need help with that?" she asked. "And are you sure you're going to have time to use all that stuff plus the stuff that's already in the van?"

Stacie stopped and laughed. "Oh, you know me Barbie! Of course I'll have time! I don't want to be delayed like I was back at The Resort with my hurt foot. I had to wait a whole day to take that stupid boot off!"

Barbie chuckled. "Oh, a whole, entire day eh? That's a whole entire day you spent people watching! You should probably be careful this time round. Don't want to hurt your foot again."

Stacie let out a deep breath as she dropped all of her things at the foot of the stairs. "Yeah, I guess." She relented. "But just so you know, as soon as I see a sweet wave, I'm gonna freakin' ride it! I don't sit around all day on my tablet, Skipper!" Stacie added as she turned to Skipper who was sitting in an armchair on her tablet.

Skipper looked up. "What? I got done packing early, so I'm checking my blog status. Those photos from our vacation at The Resort and the gemstone dolphin rescue that won first prize got more hits than several of my past posts combined."

"Uh Skipp, you might want to check out some surfing at the Channel Islands or maybe even some scuba diving. It was snorkeling at the reef that earned you those first prize photos after all." said Barbie.

Skipper put down her tablet and got up. "Point taken. I just hope I don't have to do anything like zip-line across a ravine like back in Hawaii for Chelsea's dance competition. Speaking of her, where's Chels? She's been up there for the last hour?"

Just then, a large gym bag filled with stuffed animals and dance clothes flew over the banister and landed at the base of the stairs.

"Right here! I'm all ready!" came the reply from upstairs.

Chelsea then came bouncing excitedly down the stairs. "Let's go Barbie! I'm ready for the beach – again!"

Her sisters laughed. Chelsea was always full of energy. "Okay Chels! I just need to gather up my laptop, my phone, get the puppies, and my handbag and we'll be ready!" said Barbie as she headed back towards the kitchen.

Skipper's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, I almost forgot my tablet charger and my camera!" she freaked and ran back upstairs, not noticing the small, dragonfly sized drone hovering over the 2nd floor banister.

Elsewhere in Miami, Blade brought the image from the drone's camera into focus, smirking as he watched Skipper disappear into her room.

"Heh, heh, heh! That Skipper never misses a beat with her tech." he chuckled as he swiveled around to face Dunbar, Marlo, Joe, and Marty.

Dunbar nodded. "I must say Blade, you never fail to impress. Quite fascinating how you managed to put together that tiny drone plus a handful of backups in just a short time." he commented.

"Man, I could've used you back at my old research facility for tech issues and inventing." added Marlo teasingly.

Blade smirked. "Yes, I'm sure you could have. Now, you're the mastermind here Dunbar. What's the plan? We already have enough definite intel as to where they're going."

"Uh yeah, but uh, do we know where they're staying at yet?" asked Marty.

Joe raised an eyebrow. "For once, you're startin' to use your noggin Marty. I'm impressed. But getting back to the topic, do we know where they're staying at?"

Blade turned back to his laptop and turned off the autopilot of the drone, and began to guide it manually downstairs.

"I could just hack into her Expedia account, but I'm curious as to see what this drone can do. I'm going to pilot it around to Barbie's desk and see if she left out any travel records." he said as he flew the drone into the huge downstairs office. "Now let's see what we got."

Barbie's desk was a mess of photos, fan mail, movie scripts, award certificates, and smoothie and cupcake recipes. Blade turned the drone's camera towards the computer on the desk and found what he was looking for.

"Ah, here it is!" he announced as the others crowded around him. "These papers state that Barbie and her sisters have booked 3 weeks at a place called the Hilton San Catalina Resort in a town called Avalon. Damn, that place is beachfront too."

Dunbar smirked. "Once again, you've outdone yourself Blade."

Just then, the 5 of them head footsteps and barking coming closer to the office.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Honey get off! I've got to get my cupcake recipe collection from Barbie's office." said a small girl's voice.

Marlo's eyes widened. "Damn! Chelsea's coming! Quick Blade, get the drone out of there!"

"Uh, I think it might be a little bit too late for that." said Marty. "Look."

Chelsea came into the office with Honey at her heels. "Now let's see, where did Barbie leave that book?" she wondered aloud.

She turned towards the computer and gasped when she saw Blade's dragonfly-like drone but she thought it was an actual bug!

"Ahhhhhhhh! Barbie! There's a huge bug in your office!" she screamed.

"Oh shit! She saw it!" gasped Blade as he took the controls.

"I'll be I can get it out of there!" declared Dunbar as he lunged for the controls.

"Hey, get out of here boss! I know how to fly this thing!" said Blade.

"No way, I've got it!" replied Joe as he too lunged forward.

"You're all stupid! I've got it!" Marlo insisted as she leapt in front of Joe.

Soon, the 4 of them were grappling for the controls as the drone flew this way and that in Barbie's office while Chelsea was still screaming her head off.

"Give it here!"

"No way man, it's mine, I built it!"

"You all don't know what you're doing! Let me have it!"

"Dumbass bitch!"

"Crazy tech geek!"

"Corn dog obsessed conman!"

The little squabble had turned into an all-out fight as Dunbar, Marlo, Blade, and Joe grappled for the drone's controls and continued hurling insults at each other. Meanwhile, Marty had stood back in confusion until he noticed the drone was hurtling out of control towards a window.

"Uh, guys…" he tried pointing out, but Dunbar, Marlo, Blade, and Joe were still fighting.

"Geeky tech obsessed maniac! I'll bet you dropped out of school!"

"DROPPED OUT OF SCHOOL!? I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW I HAVE AN ASSOCIATE'S DEGREE IN COMPUTER SOFTWARE FROM LA WEST COMMUNITY COLLEGE!"

"AND I HAVE A MASTER'S DEGREE IN MARINE BIOLOGY!"

"AW MAN, I AIN'T GOT NO DEGREES!"

Marty grew nervous. "GUYS!" he yelled out as the 4 of them stopped fighting to stare at him.

"What Marty!?" asked Joe.

"The drone's heading towards that window." He said meekly, pointing back to the laptop screen.

"WHAT!?" all 4 of them yelled as Blade took back control of the drone and pulled up at the last minute, turning the auto-pilot back on.

"Whew!" gasped Blade as all 5 of them let out a collective sigh of relief. "Thank god I don't have to bring in one of my backups. This one's got all our important data on it."

"Speaking of data, we still have yet to formulate a plan once the girls get to San Catalina Island." reminded Dunbar.

"Way ahead of you boss! What we need is an insider. Someone who can gain the Roberts' trust in order to keep better track of them than we can from a distance with a drone. And I have a relative that can help!" Blade declared.

The others were intrigued. "Exactly who is this relative of yours anyway?" asked Marlo.

Blade pulled out an iPhone. "Allow me to call him up." he said as he dialed up a number. Soon someone picked up.

"Hello? What up Blade? What goin' on man?" said slightly younger sounding male voice on the other end.

"Hey Blake, we're gonna need your help. Remember that plan I told you about a few days ago? Well, now's the time. Get up here and I'll explain everything." replied Blade.

"Alright then, I'll be up in a minute." said Blake.

Blade smirked and hung up. Moments later, the sound of footsteps pounding the stairs emulated from the hallway followed by the door to Blade's tech office opening. The 5 of them turned around to face a teenage boy standing in the doorway. He was about 5'7", had slicked back dark brown hair, and was wearing khaki pants with a brown leather jacket.

"Everyone, this is my cousin Blake. He's 16 years old, dropped out of high school and -."

"He's one of my youngest associates." finished Dunbar.

Blake gave an arrogant smirk and waved. "What they said." He then turned and looked at Marlo. "So, you must be Marlo. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. My cousin Blade told me about you a while ago after your first meeting."

Marlo half smiled, half smirked as she shook hands with Blake. "It's always good to meet more of Dunbar's associates. What role do you play in this elaborate equation?" she asked.

Blake sat down as Dunbar passed him an e-cigarette. Lighting it, he said "A while ago, my cousin Blade here told me that you dudes and dudette have a plan to pay out a quartet of girls and that I was needed as an insider in order to gain the trust of one of them. I imagines this was to keep you all informed. Well, being a ladies man, I couldn't pass up the opportunity."

Joe spoke up. "And which one of them are we planning on seducing?"

Blake rolled his eyes. "Isn't it obvious? I'm 16, so guess which of the Roberts is 16 also."

Marlo opened her mouth to speak but Dunbar beat her to it. "If you were going to say "Skipper", then you're correct." he said.

Blake nodded in affirmation. "Yep. Skipper. Barbie's teen sister and the only one who is age appropriate to seduce and gain the trust of. I hear she has a hot blog. Can't wait to check that out."

Joe started chuckling. "Maybe Marty and I will get the chance to steal her backpack and tablet again! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Blade motioned for Marty to pull up another swivel chair to his laptop desk. "Well cousin, why wait when you can skim it all you want now eh?"

"I think I will." said Blake as he sat in the chair and began scrolling through the website.

"Uh, I hope you have another computer because I want to see what those brats are up to." said Marlo.

Blade pulled out another laptop and switched it on, establishing a connection the drone in Barbie's mansion.

"Always do." he declared.

The 5 of them crowded around the new laptop to observe what was going on in Barbie's mansion. Chelsea had gotten over seeing the bug, and now she and Stacie were loading the puppies into the van. They leaned in to listen to what was going on.

"Are we gonna leave yet?" asked Chelsea.

"Yeah, and what happened to Skipper? Did she fall into that black hole of music again?" added Stacie.

Just then, Skipper and Barbie ran out with their bags. "We're here! I just had to lock up the place and turn off the computers. We need to get going! We have to catch that auto ferry to Avalon!" exclaimed Barbie as she hopped into the driver's seat.

"I can't wait to get started on my new travel blog for this trip!" said Skipper. "It's going to be so awesome!"

"Yay! We can finally go!" said Chelsea as she, Skipper, and Stacie jumped into the van and they drove off along with the sounds of excited barking from the puppies in the back seat.

Blade turned off the drone's camera set it to auto-pilot as he sat back. "Well, they're off." he said.

"And we're on" added Dunbar. He pulled out a phone and speed-dialed a number. "This is Dunbar. The targets are on the move. The 6 of us need transport to Avalon CA in a few hours. And don't forget, we're going to need the motor boat, some more henchmen, and lots of knockouts, rope, burlap hoods, sponges, and tape."

"Marty, go and get out things from our apartment. We're finally headin' out." commanded Joe.

Marty grinned. "This is gonna be so much fun boss! We're gonna see Catalonia Island and -."

"Just get moving already!" said Joe as Marty scrambled out of the room.

"Heh! Heh! Heh! Heh! It's finally happening!" said Marlo sinisterly.

The entire group minus Blake and Marty shred an evil laugh. "MWA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA-."

"Hey! Can you guys keep it the f*** down over there!" yelled Blake. "I'm trying to read a blog here!"

* * *

***Crap's getting real here! Dunbar and Marlo finally set their plan in motion and we finally meet Blake. Please review, critique, add ideas, and tell me what you think so far! Next chapter in a few!


	5. 4 Will Enter, 3 Will Never Leave

Chapter 5: 4 Will Enter, 3 Will Never Leave

The loud horn sounded, echoing off the nearby cliffs as the Malibu-Avalon Auto Ferry made its way across the Pacific Ocean. On deck, Chelsea was using Stacie's binoculars to observe the slowly fading Mainland coast.

"Wow Barbie!" she exclaimed. "Even on full power, the beach is getting smaller and smaller!"

Barbie laughed. "That's because we're getting further away! Why don't you see when the beach vanishes completely. I'll go check up on Skipper, Stacie, and the puppies."

Chelsea looked excitedly up at Barbie. "Okay!" she said as she turned back towards the fading coastline.

Barbie headed back towards the front of the ferry and went indoors to the passenger section where Skipper, Stacie, and the puppies were relaxing. Stacie was reading a stack of tourist brochures and Skipper was trying not to puke from motion sickness.

"How are you two holding up?" asked Barbie.

"Look at all this surfing stuff!" said Stacie excitedly. "I'll be I could set some sort of record for most surfing done by a 12 year old."

"I'm sure you could Stacie!" chuckled Barbie. "How are you feeling Skipp?" she asked, turning over to Skipper.

"Ugh, trying not to, ugh, barf." groaned Skipper as she clutched tightly to a large paper bag. Her puppy, DJ whimpered in agreement from her lap.

"Just try and sit still." It will only be a little while longer." Barbie tried reassuring her.

Elsewhere, in a secluded port in Los Angeles, Dunbar, Marlo, Joe, Marty, Blade, and Blake along with several henchmen began unloading their things from several SUV's.

"Hurry up with those suitcases Marty." said Joe. Our ship should be arriving in a little while."

"Done boss." said Marty as he stood beside Joe carrying 4 suitcases.

"Whoa! How did you get all that unloaded so quickly?" asked a surprised Joe.

Marty opened his mouth to answer but Joe held his hand up.

"You know what? Don't answer. Just drop this stuff down here."

"You got it boss!" exclaimed Marty as he dropped the suitcases – on Joe's foot!

"Owwwwwwww!" yelled Joe in pain. "Marty, can't you do anything right!?"

"Opps, uh, sorry boss?" said Marty timidly.

Joe just groaned and walked over to where Dunbar, Marlo, and 2 henchmen stood. "How much longer till our ship arrives?" he asked.

Dunbar checked his phone. "It should be arriving_." He was cut off as a horn sounded and what looked like an old research vessel approached the dock. Several henchmen on deck and a few more on the dock scrambled to prepare to anchor and load the ship.

"Right about now." he smirked.

The vessel came to a stop as Dunbar and Marlo went up to meet with the captain. As soon as the gangplank lowered, a large man with a large mustache and wearing black athletic clothing descended.

"Dunbar, good to see you again." He exclaimed as he and Dunbar shook hands. "I see you've brought your second-in-command with you. Do you mind telling me about yourself?" he asked as he turned to Marlo.

"I'm Marlo and I'm worked as a former marine researcher. Now, I work for Dunbar to pay out the 4 people who ruined my life." she said.

The captain of the vessel gave a curt nod. "Yes, I know. Dunbar told me all about you and your story. By the way, my name's Norman." he stated as he shook hands with Marlo.

"Alright, now that we all know each other, let's get our s**t on the ship and scram. The Roberts are probably halfway to San Catalonia by now." said Dunbar.

He then turned to Joe, Marty, Blade, Blake, and the henchmen on the dock. "Try to get all of our crap on the ship in 20 minutes. If we can't do that, we'll have to come back for whatever we leave."

"No problem boss." Said Joe. He then turned to Marty. "Marty, pick up these suitcases and bring them to the cargo hold. And don't drop them this time." he stated bluntly.

"Uh, you got it boss!" said Marty as he hastily gathered up the baggage and made his way up the gangplank. The other henchmen gathered up suitcases, bags, wheelies, and whatever they could carry and followed Marty.

 _Back on the Ferry…_

The puppies were barking excitedly as they stared outside one of the ferry's windows in the passenger section while Stacie and Chelsea were playing with them.

"Gosh Honey, you and the others can't wait to get there wither huh?" laughed Chelsea as Honey barked excitedly and licked her face.

"I can say the same about Rookie too." said Stacie as Rookie jumped into her arms.

Meanwhile, Barbie and Skipper were relaxing in the center of the passenger room. Skipper's motion sickness had somewhat calmed down and now she and Barbie were engaged in conversation.

"So Skipp, do you think you want to go scuba diving?" asked Barbie. "You could probably get some more interesting underwater photos for your blog and you could stay underwater for a long time."

Skipper looked a bit nervous and her expression was one full of anxiety and a bit of fear. . "I, uh, I'm not sure." she hesitated.

Barbie looked at her sister with worry. "Are you worried Skipp? If so, what's on your mind?"

Skipper turned in Barbie's direction, but tried to avid eye contact. She sighed and hugged herself. "Well, I'm just not as adventurous as you and Stacie are sometimes. Heck, I don't even have a boyfriend yet because I'm shy and I don't like taking risks. Remember back in Hawaii when we had to zip line across that ravine for Chelsea's dance contest? I was really scared and I actually thought I might get hurt, or worse but I didn't want to tell Stacie because I thought she would make fun of me for being a scaredy-sister." she stated softly.

Barbie wrapped her arm around her younger sister reassuringly. "I know you're apprehensive about taking risks and what people will say or think of you Skipp. But I want to assure you that I, nor Chelsea or Stacie would ever make fun of you for being scared of doing something. Tell you what, if you're up for diving, I can go with you. All 3 of us can."

Skipper gave a relaxed and more confident grin. "Thanks Barbie! I think I'll give it a try!"

The two shared a hug. "That's the Skipp I know!" cheered Barbie. "And I reassure you, I would never let anything bad happen to you or Stacie or Chelsea. And I won't let anything dangerous happen while we're scuba diving."

Just then, the loud speaker crackled into life. "Attention passengers, the Malibu-Avalon Auto Ferry will be arriving in Avalon in 15 minutes. Would all passengers who have brought a vehicle on board in the holding section please begin making your way back to your cars, trucks, and campers in preparation to disembark."

Barbie jumped up. "That's us Skipp. Let's get this vacay on the road!"

Skipper laughed. "Oh, I see what you did! On the road! Ha! Ha!"

They met up with Stacie, Chelsea and the puppies and collected their things to join the dozens of other passengers who were making their way below deck to their vehicles and hopped into their pink van. There was a loud roar from the sound of dozens of vehicle engines igniting and waiting for the que to disembark off the ship. The ship stopped and a loud horn sounded followed by another loud alarm bell and the light at the bow of the ship turned green. After several cars in front of the drove off, Barbie drove the van off the ship and into the bright sunlight of Avalon.

"Yay! We're finally here!" cheered Chelsea.

"Not just yet Chels!" smiled Barbie. "We still have to get to our hotel and check-in."

The sisters drove on through the city of Avalon for a few more minutes before pulling up to a large 5-story resort-style hotel. The Hilton San Catalina Resort was an enormous, 5-story, ultra-modern complex next to the beach complete with a large pool and hot tub indoors and outside, a courtyard area with outdoor bonfires, and a large office with high speed Wi-Fi for internet.

"Whoa! This place looks even awesomer than it did on the website!" exclaimed Skipper.

"Ha! Ha! You said the exact same thing back at The Resort!" laughed Stacie.

"I know Stacie. It's because it's true! I can't wait to use the Wi-Fi and sleep on the beds!" Skipper replied.

Barbie parked the van in front of the hotel lobby and went to check in. As soon as they parked, she, Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea began unloading their things. Stacie groaned as she tried to lift both of her surfboards.

Barbie chuckled. "Uh Stacie, I think we can come back later for those. The beach isn't going anywhere you know!

Stacie gave a sheepish grin. "Yeah, I guess you're right!" she said as she dropped them back in the van and closed it up before following her sisters into the lobby. The lobby was large and modern. To the right was the check-in check out desk, there was a large internet lounge on the left, and in the center was a buffet restaurant and a huge deck facing the beach and the bonfire pits in the courtyard.

"Oh man, they've even got free coffee!" said Skipper excitedly as she headed towards a counter with several Starbucks coffee makers.

Chelsea made a face. "I don't think I like coffee. It looks like muddy water."

Barbie laughed as she came back from the check-in desk. "Oh Chels! You never know because when you get older, you might like it. Like me! Now, why don't we get our things onto one of the luggage carts and head upstairs in the elevators. Our room is 313 on the third floor."

Stacie glanced over at the large pile of suitcases, bags, beach bags, and beach toys and equipment near the door. "Yeah, I think we're going to need 2 or even 3 luggage carts!" she laughed.

Her sisters laughed and began loading their things onto the cart, unaware of the receptionist observing them from afar. He turned and headed into the office behind the check-in desk before pulling out a phone. Opening it, he quickly sent a text to an unidentifiable number.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, an old research vessel approached an old dock in a secluded part of a small bay. The vessel didn't appear to slow down until the last minute, slamming into the dock and making it shake and crack with the sound of groaning metal.

"Jesus Christ Norman, you had me thinking we were going to destroy the pier for a second!" exclaimed Marlo.

Norman gave a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, about that. I know how to captain small vessels, but I'm not the best at docking."

Dunbar pursed his lips. "Yes, as crafty as you are Norman, you've destroyed quite a few piers during a few of our previous operations. Just last year, the trader I was working with in Cancun wasn't very happy when you caused him over $5,000 in damages due to your clumsy steering. I doubt I'll be doing business with him for a while."

Norman sheepishly grinned and rubbed the back of his neck guiltily.

"Shouldn't we start unloading?" asked Blade. "We only have 3 weeks to get this operation underway and compete it."

Joe nodded. "You're right. Marty, go and tell the guys to start unloading and bring everything into base." he stated, pointing towards a large warehouse along the shore surrounded by a handful of small buildings. "And don't drop anything on anyone's feet this time!" he added.

"You got it boss!" said Marty as he left the bridge.

Just then, Dunbar's phone began vibrating. Picking it up, he quickly read the message that had been received.

"Boss, the Roberts have just arrived and checked in. I assigned them a room facing the western side of the hotel where you and the other can observe them via binoculars easily from the bed and breakfast like we talked about. The room number is 313 and it's at the northwestern corner of the hotel. The room has large windows and the Roberts should leave the shades up, but just in case, I'll plant a listening device in the alarm clock when they leave for the beach."

Sneering, Dunbar shut off the phone and looked at Norman, Marlo, Joe, Blade, and Blake. "The girls just arrived at the hotel. The man I hired that works as a receptionist came through and assigned them the room where we can observe them from afar. So far, they don't suspect a thing because they're obviously too ignorant and naïve to do so! Blake, I need you to listen to this because you're going to like this. He's planting a listening device in the alarm clock and once it's in, I need you to wirelessly connect to it so we can receive the feed in our main database."

Blake smirked and nodded. "Great idea boss! I love the idea of an inside job!"

"Speaking of which, Blake, you'll be one of our sets of eyes and ears inside the hotel and the Roberts family itself. Marlo and I will tell you more about it later." added Dunbar.

Blake arrogantly grinned and walked off to join the other henchmen in unloading. Dunbar then turned to Joe.

"You remembered to pack the knockouts, hoods, rope, sponges, and tape right?" he asked turning to Joe.

Joe nodded in affirmation. "Yup I did boss. Because we're gonna need them in a while from now! Oh, and I packed some board and video games. We're probably going to need to find ways to occupy our "guests" once we have them in our clutches." he smirked.

Dunbar turned away from the small group and faced out the large bridge window now overlooking the shoreline and the warehouse. Taking a deep breath, he became lost in his thoughts.

"Yes indeed. Barbie and her sisters have checked in, but only one of them will ever check out!" he declared aloud as he opened yet another pack of cigarettes.

* * *

***Author's Notes:

Dunbar's operation has officially gotten underway and we see a tender moment between Barbie and Skipper as Barbie comes to understand her oldest younger sister a bit better.

This is character list is to clarify any confusion regarding the characters from this and previous chapters.

Dunbar – Former I3 agent, appeared in _Barbie: Spy Squad!_ Tried and failed to take over I3 thanks to Barbie, Theresa, Renee, and Lazlo. Ruthless, cruel, studious, intelligent. He is an often merciless crime boss, but has good common sense and some limits.

Marlo – Former marine researcher, appeared in _Barbie: Dolphin Magic_. Ken's former boss, attempted to smuggle gemstone dolphins out of a bay in the Caribbean. Plot foiled by the Roberts, Ken, and Isla. Greedy, cynical, vengeful, somewhat more impulsive than Dunbar.

Joe – Worked as a carnival setup supervisor for Willowfest in Willows Wisconsin. Appeared along with his partner Marty in _Barbie and Her Sister in a Great Puppy Adventure_. Tried to hunt down and claim Willows' hidden treasure, plot foiled by the Roberts' puppies Taffy, DJ, Rookie, and Honey. Hotheaded, impatient, serious, somewhat intelligent.

Marty – Worked as a carnival setup laborer for Willowfest in Willows Wisconsin. Joe is his boss. Appeared w/ Joe in in _Barbie and Her Sister in a Great Puppy Adventure._ Tried to hunt down and claim Willows' hidden treasure, plot foiled by the Roberts' puppies Taffy, DJ, Rookie, and Honey.

Blade – One of Dunbar's lead technology operatives. Works as an inventor, computer hacker, and spy. Blake's older cousin, he is 20 years old and has an associate's degree in computer software.

Blake – Blade's 16 year old younger cousin, one of Dunbar's youngest associates. Performs miscellaneous tasks, is a handsome, but deceptive charmer.

Barbie Roberts – Lead fashion designer, super model, and famous actress. 20 years old, has 3 younger sisters, is very wealthy, famous, but kind-hearted and compassionate. Ready to help anyone who ever needs it.

Skipper Roberts – Blogger, movie director, semi-professional photographer, all-out gadget girl. 16 years old, is famous like her older sister among teens, dislikes leaving her comfort zone, slightly naïve, anxious, sincere and thoughtful. Creator of one of the most famous and most followed blogs on the West Coast. She is the shyest of the Roberts quartet.

Stacie Roberts – Sporty, 11 years old, adventurous, risk taking, daring, feisty. Loves sports (any sports), trying new things, and getting her sisters in on the action. She and Skipper are exact opposites when it comes to hobbies and likes.

Chelsea Roberts – 6 years old. She is essentially a younger version and the mirror image of her oldest sister Barbie. Like her, she is kind-hearted, intelligent, loves cupcakes and the color pink, very girly, naïve, and enjoys playing games with her friends and older sisters. She is the creator of a dream world called "Dreamtopia" within her talented imagination.

Ken Carson – 21 years old. Barbie's boyfriend since high school, works as a marine research assistant in Nassau, often accompanies the Roberts on their adventures. He is hard-working, very intelligent, kind, compassionate, friendly, and sees the good in just about everyone.

Introduced this chapter:

Norman – An associate of Dunbar's. Captains and owns an old research vessel used for smuggling operations. He is very loyal to Dunbar, but also very clumsy. Destroyed or damaged a several boat piers due to being a klutz.

"The Receptionist" \- an undercover associate of Dunbar's at the beachside resort.


	6. Establishing Surveillance

Chapter 6: Establishing Surveillance

Barbie, Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea had just finished bringing up their luggage and had arrived at their room. All 4 of them gasped in amazement as they stepped into the large, spacious room. Room 313 was a large suite with the main door opening into a sitting room that had a shiny, hardwood floor, a large, plush sofa, several beanbag chairs, a small kitchenette, and most amazing of all, 2 of the 4 walls of the room were a huge windows that overlooked the beach to the northeast and the western side of the town to the west. The shades had already been drawn open allowing for a lot of natural sunlight to flood the room. Over to the right, there were to bedrooms containing 2 bunkbeds, 4 dressers each, a desk each, and in between them stood a spacious bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub.

"Holey moley, this place is incredible!" gasped Skipper.

"I'll say!" agreed Barbie as she made her way towards the huge window that overlooked the beach and courtyard.

"Come on guys!" exclaimed Chelsea excitedly. "Let's get our things in here so we can get to the beach!"

Stacie hauled the 1 of the 2 luggage carts into the suite's main room. "Chelsea's right!" she agreed. "I want to see if I can catch some waves before the tide gets low."

Barbie laughed. "All right you two! Let's get this stuff into our rooms, get changed, and then we can head out."

As her sisters began to unload their belongings, Barbie realized that she had not heard from Ken before or when they arrived. "Hmmmm… I wonder where Ken is." she wondered aloud. "I haven't heard from him since yesterday. No call, text or email either." she added as she checked her phone. Shrugging, she put it away and made her way toward one of the bedrooms. Entering, she had a strange feeling that someone else was there. She turned around and noticed that the closet door was slightly ajar. Confused, she moved to close it when a blonde man wearing a pink swim suit and a white t-shirt that read "Nassau Marine Research Team" jumped out of the closet and leapt straight for Barbie!

"Surprise Barbie!" shouted the young man gleefully as he tackled Barbie onto one of the beds.

Barbie gave a startled shout sending her sisters and the puppies running into the room. Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea looked at the sight and began laughing their heads off! So was the young blonde man.

"Ken you big jerk!" laughed Barbie as Ken laughed so hard he fell off the bed! "You were here the whole time!? And how did you even get in here!?" she asked, still slightly out of breath.

Ken pulled himself off the floor and regained his composure. "I knew that you and your sisters were arriving today, so I decided to surprise you by hiding in your room and then jumping out at you!"

"But how on earth did you get in here?" asked Barbie.

Ken grinned. "The owner of this hotel is a frequent visitor at the research facility where I work in Nassau. I purposely recommended this hotel to you a while ago knowing that as a friend of his, I would be able to gain access to this room and surprise you!" he said as he held up another key card to the room.

"So, essentially, you set us up." said an amused Skipper.

Barbie laughed. "Well it's great to see that you made it. We're getting ready to head down to the beach soon. You're joining us right?"

"Oh heck yeah I am!" replied Ken as he, Barbie, Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea left the bedroom to collect their swimsuits and beach supplies.

In a building not too far away from the hotel, a pair of binoculars stuck out the window of a nearby bed and breakfast watching the scene unfold. The man holding them zoomed in on Barbie digging through her things and Ken helping Stacie and Chelsea organize their beach toys and surf boards. Holding up an iPod, he snapped a few pictures. Putting down the binoculars, he withdrew into the room and sent attached the pictures to an email before sending it.

On the other side of the island, Dunbar, Marlo, Joe, Norman, Marty, Blade, Blake, and the henchmen had just finished unloading their things into the large warehouse that sat at the center of what used to be a fishing port. The warehouse sat in the center of the port village and was surrounded by a small number of huts and what used to be processing buildings that had been converted into offices and apartments for the henchmen. The secluded port village now functioned as a base of operations for a branch of Dunbar's smuggling ring; an ideal location since almost all access roads had been torn up with the exception of what had once been the main highway. The latter was now maintained by a handful of henchmen who had once worked for the California Highway Commission. The resources of the port were very impressive as well: a fleet of 30 SUV's, 5 armored vehicles, 2 tugboats, about 80 henchmen and henchwomen, and the old research vessel captained by Norman that Dunbar and his crew had arrived in.

Though 50 years old, the main warehouse was very well maintained and busy. 2/3 of the main floor were occupied by storage space for everything that Dunbar's organization smuggled. Smuggled goods ranged anywhere from illegally-grown marijuana from Central America to oddly enough, normal household goods such as mattresses, technology such as computers, phones, and accessories, kitchen appliances, furniture, food by the bulk, essentially anything that could make a hefty profit on the national black market. The second floor of the warehouse was home to a series of private offices where Dunbar and his top associates and business partners managed their operations and occasionally slept. The remaining 1/3 of the warehouse's main floor was occupied by a series of offices which now functioned as small, but surprisingly comfortable holding cells complete with basic furniture. They were rarely ever used since Dunbar's operatives encountered little to no interference, but soon this was all about to change.

Marty was leading a group of henchmen in bringing the personal belongings of the port's new arrivals into some huts near the warehouse, Norman was refueling his ship, and Dunbar was leading Marlo, Joe, Blade, and Blake up to the second floor of the warehouse where he stopped in front of a large door and opened it.

"Ah, office sweet office." he stated as he entered his large office with Marlo, Joe, Blade, and Blake behind him.

Dunbar's warehouse office was slightly more spacious than his office in Miami. Opposite the door was a large window that overlooked half of the port village below. In the office itself, a large oak desk stood in front of the window with a large vacant space between it and the door that contained a coffee table and 4 easy chairs. Off to the left side was a pair of filing cabinets and over to the right was a desk that contained several computers and even more tech equipment. Dunbar crossed over to the right side of the room and sat down in front of one of the laptop computers and turned on his earpiece. He motioned for Marlo, Joe, Blade, and Blake to join him. He then turned on the laptop's camera and opened the facetime app where a man wearing a receptionist suit came into view on the screen.

"Good news boss. I heard back from the guy you stationed in the bed and breakfast and he says that Barbie, her sisters, and Ken are getting ready to head off to the beach. Once they've left, I can go in and plant the listening device. Once I've had it planted in the alarm clock, I'll message you its IP address so you can tap into it wirelessly to receive its feed." said the receptionist.

Dunbar nodded. "Excellent." Once you see them exit the hotel, go up there and plant the bug. Stay on facetime so I can direct you."

The receptionist nodded and a minute later, the elevator opened and Dunbar's gang heard the sounds of laughing and barking making their way into the lobby as Barbie, Ken, Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea along with their puppies crossed the lobby along with the sound of groaning from Stacie as she dragged a large surfboard behind her.

The receptionist gave them a friendly wave and turned back to the computer. "Alright Dunbar, they're gone. Its go time." he said as he got up, picked up another room key marked '313', and headed for the elevator.

Dunbar sat back and a few minutes later, his phone rang. He picked it up and on the screen was the listening device's IP address along with a simple message that read "It's done."

"Alright Blade." said Dunbar. "Take the controls and tap into that device so we can receive its feed. In the meantime, Marlo and I need to borrow you cousin to go over the next part of the plan."

Blade sat down at the laptop and began connecting into the listening device while Dunbar, Marlo, and Blake sat down in the easy chairs in the center of the room.

"Alright." began Dunbar. "Earlier, we discussed that in order to fully monitor the Roberts' activities, planting bugs, having spies with binoculars, and flying fly-sized drones around isn't enough. We need to have someone on the spot and interacting with them. In this case, Skipper specifically."

"Yes, you told me about this back in Miami. Do you mind telling me how I'm going to meet up with her in the first place?" asked Blake.

Dunbar and Marlo exchanged a glance. "Somewhat." replied Dunbar. "We have a few days to do it, but the first contact is vital. If it goes wrong, Skipper will reject you. Therefore, we would like you to meet up with them somewhere on the hotel grounds where my receptionist associate can monitor the Roberts and inform you of when is the best time to walk in on the scene. Before meeting them, do something impressive such as bring them refreshments and make small talk before introducing yourself. Anyways, I'm going to leave that up to you since your good at being charming."

Blake smiled arrogantly. "Yes, I am good at that. I'm sure I'll think of something along the way. By the way, when do I leave for the hotel?"

"A few hours from now." replied Marlo. "Dunbar had the receptionist create a reservation for you and another 16 year old associate of his under the names of Seth Philips and Ryan Hargraves respectively. When you get there, you will find that room 312 has been reserved in your names, just across the hallway from the Roberts. That way, you'll be close to them and be able to maintain contact with the receptionist."

"Interesting." pondered Blake. "And who is this other 16 year old I'll be working with?"

This time, Dunbar spoke up. "His actual name is Tyler Kirkland and I think you're going to really enjoy working with him. He's techy, just like you and I've had him in the business since the day I started working with smuggling."

Before Blake could reply, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." said Dunbar.

The door opened and a rather tired Marty entered the office with another man, who also looked a bit flustered. "All of you guy's things is in your respective huts boss. You can unpack whenever you're ready." said Marty.

"Ah good work you two." replied Dunbar. "Why don't you both get something to drink, and get showered and changed before going to prepare the holding cell for our guests in a while from now. We need the beds and floor cleaned, 3 chairs ready, and those video game consuls hooked up. When you're ready, I'll send Joe to help you."

"Gee thanks Dunbar." said the other man as he and Marty exited.

Nodding with approval, Dunbar turned back to Blake. "Go down to your hut and get whatever you need packed. I'm hoping to have you and Tyler checked into the hotel by suppertime this evening so we can start inside surveillance."

Blake got up and left the office to collect his things. Blade swiveled around to face Dunbar, Marlo, and Joe on his desk chair looking excited.

"Good news boss!" he exclaimed. "We're successfully connected to the listening device. Now that it's activated, we should start to receive its feed through this laptop once the Roberts get back to the hotel room."

"Good." said Dunbar. "I'm going to head out to inform 2 of my associates that Blake will be heading out in a few hours and that they need to drive us into Avalon."

Blade turned back to the computer while Dunbar and Marlo headed out outside.

 _A few hours later…_

Blake and the 2 henchmen were busy loading some things into the 2016 Ford Escape that would take them into Avalon and later, the resort.

"All right Blake. Looks like you're almost ready. Now that your things are just about packed, we're going to head into Avalon in a few minutes. We'll be stopping in the town of Two Harbors where Tyler is stationed to pick him up and then we'll continue down the San Catalina eastern coast to Avalon." stated Dunbar.

"You got it Dunbar." replied Blake as he, Dunbar, and one of the henchmen climbed into the Ford Escape. He felt a sudden surge of excitement and nervousness as the engine roared into life and the vehicle made its way towards the old highway that led out of the port village and travelled north and around the northern tip of the island.

***Author's Notes:

Surveillance has officially begun by Blake and "The Receptionist" and ken finds a unique way to surprise his long-time girlfriend!

Characters Introduced:

Tyler Kirkland (mentioned) – Another 16 year-old associate of Dunbar's. Like Blake, he is techy and has an interest in video gaming however, he is not as nearly as cocky as Blake and instead prefers to approach issues with planning instead of "winging it" or making things up as he goes. Officially appears in Chapter 7.


	7. Here Come the Spies

Chapter 7: Here Come the Spies

The Ford Escape made its way along the old, 2-lane concrete highway that wound around the northern tip of San Catalina Island heading towards the town of Two Harbors. Dunbar was driving while the henchman that had come along with them for their protection was preoccupied with the latest South Park video on YouTube in the back seat. In the meantime, Blake had become lost in his own thoughts, daydreaming the role he was to play in the operation. _I wonder what the Roberts will be like,_ he thought silently. _I have no doubt that I can fool the 3 younger ones, but what about Barbie? Will she be suspicious of me? I may have to step up my game._ He was so engrossed in his thoughts, he didn't notice the vehicle come to a stop in front of a bus station and a medium height, dirty blonde 16 year-old boy climb into the back seat.

"Hey, are you Blake?" the boy asked, snapping Blake out of his daydreams.

"Oh, uh, yes I am. I guess you're the guy that Dunbar said I'd be working with. Well, as you already know, I'm Blake." he stated as he extended his hand.

The other boy gave a slight smile and a casual nod. "I'm Tyler Kirkland." he said as he returned Blake's handshake. "I hear you're into technology."

"Oh hell yeah I am man." replied Blake. "My older cousin Blade is a hacker and works with hacking and malware installation in hacked systems. I work with mainly video games and computer software."

Tyler perked up. "Did you say 'video games? I freaking love video games! You ever play the new edition of GTA 5?"

"Hell yeah I did! Over 100 times!" Blake responded. Soon, the 2 of them were chatting away like old friends about video games such as GTA and Call of Duty.

A little while later, they parked in front of the Hilton beachfront resort where the Roberts were staying. Blake and Tyler got out to retrieve their belongings from the front seat while Dunbar dug through the glove box for some paper. Finding what he needed, he turned back to the 2 boys.

"Okay now remember: your names are now Seth Philips and Ryan Hargraves. You both are cousins who are staying with your uncle who is my associate who works here as the head receptionist." he stated as he handed Blake the papers.

"I have to get back to the warehouse to attend to business, but we'll keep in touch through your phones, earpieces, and Blake's laptop. I have 5 more associates monitoring the vicinity who are ready to assist you at any time needed, including a guy who is staying at the bed and breakfast down the street." he added pointing down the road. "I have the receptionist and the others in the area monitoring the Roberts as we speak, but since it's the first day, it's far too early for contact just yet. We need to wait for the right moment when you, Blake are in the vicinity and in full touch with us to make yourself known."

"Okay, will do." Answered both boys confidently.

Dunbar gave his signature smirk. "Alright. Now that that's taken care of, good luck to you both. I'll call you up tonight to check in and update you guys."

With that, the Ford Escape sped off, leaving Blake, Tyler, and their luggage in the parking lot. "I guess it's time to check in." said Tyler.

Blake agreed and the 2 of them got a luggage cart, pile their things onto it, and headed inside. The lobby felt nice and cool compared to the heat outside. The temperature had soared to 97 degrees outside and almost the entire town and pretty much all of the guests at the resort had made a mad dash for the beach in an attempt to cool down leaving the lobby almost empty with the exception of 1 man: the head receptionist.

The pair made their way to the front desk where the receptionist snapped out of his daze. Blake handed him their papers. The receptionist read them and he immediately took a keen interest. He glanced around to make sure no one else was in the lobby before leaning in close to them both.

"So, you're the boys that Dunbar told me would be arriving today. Good to see you made it. Your room is 312 on the 3rd floor and across the hallway from the Roberts." he said as handed Blake 2 keycards. Blake handed one of them to Tyler. "Use the afternoon to get your things set up and I'll call up to check on you both. I'll have someone from the restaurant bring up food whenever you need. In the meantime, feel free to explore the resort and the vicinity. It's important to know the area well for this operation to succeed."

Blake and Tyler thanked the receptionist before getting into the elevator and heading up to the 3rd floor. Entering the room, they were greeted by a spacious suite with a sitting area with an HDTV, kitchenette, 2 bedrooms, and a large bathroom. The sitting area also contained an office-like space complete with a desk, swivel chair, and a high-speed internet cord for laptops, bulletin board with pins, and an empty book shelf. Tyler stepped into the office space.

"Dude, look at all of this space. I can see why Dunbar choose this room." he said as he set down Blake's laptop case on the desk.

"Yeah, this room even has a full view of the beach." said Blake as he opened the curtains, allowing sunlight to flood into the suite. Below was a large beach crowded with thousands of resort guests, townspeople, and tourists. Blake set a black bag down on a table and removed a pair of high-quality binoculars. "Dunbar said we'd need these. I'm going to test them out."

He set the binoculars to his eyes and began viewing the scene below. He saw surfers showing off their skills, children playing in the sand making sand castles and moats, shoppers heading into town, but one sight in particular caught his eye. Zooming in, he observed a beautiful young blonde woman talking with a blonde man about her age wearing a 'Nassau Marine Research Team' t-shirt and pink swim suit. Scanning around, he noticed a blonde girl, about 6 years old building a sand castle next to the pair, a 16 year old brunette teen girl with the bottom half of her hair dyed turquoise napping on a deck chair, and in front of them, a dirty blonde girl with a pony tail and green eyes wearing a swim top with the word 'surf', about 11 years old dragging a surf board up onto the beach towards the other 4.

"Yo Tyler, get over here!" yelled Blake. Tyler scampered over and took the binoculars from Blake. "You see those 5 people over there? They're the ones we're after." he stated.

"You mean the dude in the hideous pink swimsuit and the girls around him? 2 of them are just children though. What did they do?" asked Tyler.

Blake looked surprised. "You mean Dunbar and Marlo didn't tell you?" he asked, exasperated.

Tyler just shook his head. "They told me a few things, but I didn't hear the whole story. Dunbar told me you'd tell the whole thing."

Blake thought for a moment, then smirked. "Well then, have I got some stories to tell you!" he chuckled darkly.

Tyler looked intrigued as Blake leaned back and told him the stories of how Barbie spoiled Dunbar's plot to take over I3, how Barbie, Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea foiled Marlo's plot to smuggle gemstone dolphins out of a bay and the story of how the quartet beat Joe and Marty in finding and claiming the lost treasure of Willows Wisconsin for the town. When he was done, Tyler looked impressed.

"That's some dirty biz we got goin' here. I can't wait to begin!" he said.

"You don't have to wait." replied Blake. "Keep watching if they do anything interesting."

Tyler turned back to the window with the binoculars, now fully aware of 2 things: the Roberts had "wronged" each of his colleagues in some way (except for Blade and Blake), and that none of them were going to stop until they got what they wanted. Revenge.


	8. First Contact

Chapter 8: First Contact

 _1 Week Later…_

Barbie, Ken, Skipper, Stacie, Chelsea, and their puppies were now 1 week into their vacation and a lot had happened. Chelsea had won a sandcastle building contest, Skipper was in the process of documenting their vacation for her travel blog, Stacie had gone surfing every day of the previous week, and one of Ken's colleagues from Nassau dropped by to inform him that he'd been selected to represent the research center at a National Geographic marine conference in Tampa later that year.

Today was the day that the quintet was getting ready to go scuba diving to check out the reefs off the east coast of San Catalina. Ken had rented a motor boat and the five of them had rode out to the dive location and were now suiting up to begin. Barbie was busy helping Skipper into her gear.

"Are you sure you still want to do this Skipp?" she asked with concern.

Skipper gave a nervous glance towards Stacie, who as excitedly chatting away with Ken and then back up at Barbie. "Yes. I think so. You and Ken told me about the kelp forests under the water and I really want to get some pictures for my blog."

Skipper then felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Stacie staring down at her. Stacie gave her older sister an encouraging smile. "I know it may be new for you Skipp, but I think you'll enjoy it. Remember, we're here for you and I would never force you into doing anything you don't want to do. And… I'm sorry if I pressured you back on the zip line in Hawaii. I may have been a bit overexcited, but I just wanted you to live a little and have fun despite some err…, awkward circumstances. After all, we were on vacation then and we are now!"

Barbie and Skipper laughed. "Well Stac, I think you and I have very different ways of living." smiled Skipper as she and Stacie shared a hug. Barbie sat back and smiled at the scene until she felt a tug at her thigh. Looking down, she saw Chelsea all suited up and jumping with anticipation.

"Barbie, can we go in now? I can't wait to see if there are any dolphins or better yet, mermaids!" she said.

Ken chuckled. "She's been going on and on about dolphins and mermaids since we got onto the boat! As you can tell, she's ready to go!"

Barbie beamed down at her younger sister. "Okay Chels! Just try to stay close with Ken and me since the kelp in some areas is a bit dense. Don't want you getting lost. Stacie, stay near Skipper while she gets her photos."

"You got it Barbie!" exclaimed and energized Stacie. "Come on Skipp!" she said as she slid on her mask and jumped into the water.

Skipper smiled, gave a classic roll of her eyes, slid on her mask, and simply climbed down the boat's ladder into the water, followed by Barbie, Chelsea, and finally, Ken.

"Alright girls. Insert your regulators and when I wave my hand, we'll all submerge at the same time." he instructed.

Barbie, Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea nodded and inserted their regulators. Ken raised his hand, held up 3 fingers and counted down. On 1, 4 of them submerged. Skipper took an anxious deep breath, closed her eyes, and went under, bubbles bursting all around her. When she opened her eyes, she couldn't believe what she saw: the water was clear blue with ripples forming near the surface. Below her, there was a large multi-colored coral reef with hundreds of small, brightly colored fish swimming in and around it. Most amazing of all was the huge, tree-like kelp that soared up through the water from the bottom, almost reaching the surface.

Skipper was so caught up in the incredible scene that she didn't notice Barbie and Stacie swimming up from behind her. Barbie gently tapped Skipper's shoulder, but Skipper was so caught up in the kelp forest that she gave a startled gasp and whirled around her. Barbie and Stacie laughed and Skipper laughed at the sight of the bubbled rising from their regulators up towards the surface. Barbie gave her oldest sister a concerned look and Skipper knew what this meant. She smiled and gave Barbie a thumbs up. Barbie returned it and Stacie swam beside Skipper while Barbie swam off to join Ken, who was trying to keep Chelsea from swimming off on her own.

Skipper then beckoned Stacie to follow her and together, they began weaving in and out of the kelp plants. She pulled out her camera and began taking multiple photos. She photographed the many neon colored fish in and around the reef, the huge kelp plants that soared towards the surface, the ripples created by the wind, and a shot of herself next to one of the coral plants that Stacie jokingly photobombed! Skipper showed Stacie the goofy photo in which her younger sister had swam up from behind her and made a peace sign with her fingers above Skipper's head. When Stacie saw it, she began to laugh so hard, she almost ejected her regulator!

After calming down, the pair rejoined Barbie, Ken, and Chelsea near their motor boat. Skipper handed her camera over to Ken who took several photos of her and her 3 sisters around kelp, a picture of Chelsea trying to catch a small fish with her hands, Barbie displaying a seahorse that had landed on her finger, and finally, a large group selfie with Skipper's selfie stick.

Ken gave a signal with his hand and the 5 of them returned to the surface. Skipper removed her regulator and let out an excited gasp.

"You guys, that was INCREDIBLE! Did you see how big all that kelp grew? They were practically underwater trees!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Stacie removed her regulator and began laughing, a huge grin on her face. "I told you you'd like it Skipp! And that was so EPIC! Way more exciting than the snorkeling!"

Chelsea bobbed up and down next to Barbie before raising her hand. "Immp knowpph. Imph relmph wantpmded tomph catmph onph ofmph ta fishmmpphh!" she tried saying as her regulator moved up and down between her lips.

Barbie, Ken, Skipper, and Stacie laughed before Barbie removed Chelsea's regulator. "Oh Chelsea, sorry about that! What were you trying to say?" asked Barbie.

Chelsea's face broke into an enormous smile. "I was trying to say that I wanted to catch one of the fish! It would have made a great pet!"

All 5 of them shared another laugh before Ken climbed up the ladder back onto the motor boat. "You girls coming? It's getting a bit late and I want to hit up the beachside buffet at the resort before they run out of shrimp!"

"Alright Ken, we're coming!" called up Barbie. She and her sisters then ascended the ladder onto the motor boat. Ken helped them out of their equipment and grabbed some towels and they started to dry off while he started up the boat and began heading back towards Avalon's harbor. Skipper was sitting on top of a cooler reviewing the photos she took on her camera. Stacie came up beside her and stole a glance at Skipper's camera.

"Wow Skipp, how many pictures did you take?" she asked.

Skipper glanced at the number in the bottom right of the screen. "Whoa, I took over 100 photos! When we get back, I'm going to synch them onto my tablet and post them on my blog. I'll share them with you guys tonight at dinner."

"Good, because I'm starving!" replied Stacie.

After docking the boat, and returning to their rooms to shower and change, the 5 of them met back up at the courtyard behind the hotel that faced the beach. There, they joined a small crowd of people heading for the buffet. As they looked for a table, two 16 year-old boys who were sitting at a table in a corner of the courtyard looked up from the tablet they were sharing. One of the boys looked straight at Skipper before quickly ducking back behind the tablet along with his accomplice.

"So Blake, tonight's the night huh? You gonna try and make out with Skipper?" asked Tyler.

Blake nodded and brushed a hand though his hair, which he had dyed dark brown for disguise. "You bet Tyler." he replied. "I have to wait for just the right moment to approach her and phase 1 is set in motion."

"Anyways, should I get some food from the bar for us while we wait?" asked Tyler.

Blake glanced over at the buffet line, which was considerably shorter that it had been before. "Some shrimp and crab would be nice, but let me get it. I need you to stay here on earpiece in case Dunbar, Marlo, or my cousin calls us."

He got up and was about to grab a plate when he noticed that Skipper was only a few feet from him. Just when he was about to turn away, Skipper gave a startled yelp and nearly fell forward into a concrete pillar. Without thinking, Blake dove forward and caught her before she could hit her head on the cold, hard cement. He gasped, realizing what he had done: first in-person contact had been made. Regaining his composure, he stood up and helped Skipper off the ground and dusted her off.

"Hey, uh, you okay? You almost took a pretty rough fall there." He said. Blake then turned on the charm by flashing a toothy smile and looking straight into Skipper's eyes with a fake look of concern.

Skipper finished catching her breath and looked up at the person who had caught her. Her eyes opened with wonder. Staring straight back at her was a handsome teen boy about her age with slicked back dark brown hair, a shiny grin, and sparkling brown eyes. Her heart began to beat with excitement and nervousness when she suddenly realized what happened. Skipper looked down at the ground, a bit embarrassed.

"Uh, eh, yes. I think my shoelace was untied, but I'm fine now. Thanks to you." she smiled dreamily.

Blake smirked inwardly, knowing his charm was working on Skipper. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "That's good to hear." He then noticed Barbie and Ken coming towards them.

Barbie and Ken dashed over to the pair, stopping to check Skipper over. "Skipp, Ken saw what happened. Are you okay?" asked Barbie.

Skipper nodded, still holding onto Blake's arm. "Yeah, I'm fine Barbie. Thanks to this guy." she added with a smile, pointing at Blake, who awkwardly waved.

Barbie smiled at Blake. "Yes, thank you so much for helping my younger sister. What's your name?"

Blake quickly remembered the fake alias that Dunbar had assigned him before arriving at the resort. "My name's Seth. Nice to meet you both." he said as he shook hands with Barbie and Ken.

"I'm Barbie, and this is my boyfriend Ken." She said as she pointed over at Ken, who gave a friendly wave. "Would you like to come and sit with us for a bit?" she asked.

Blake knew that this was the chance he had been waiting for to join the inner circle of the Roberts. "Uh, sure, if you guys don't mind." he smiled as the 4 of them went off to rejoin Stacie and Chelsea.

From afar, Tyler had watched everything with amazement. As soon as the action had started, he had been recording using the tablet. He pressed the 'stop' button and sent the footage to Dunbar, Marlo, and Blade. Tyler then left the table and went to a secluded spot on the nearby beach where he put on his earpiece and called up Dunbar. He didn't have to wait long for someone to pick up.

"Tyler! We just received the footage you sent us. This is absolutely perfect!" said a female voice on the other end.

"I'm glad you got it and you liked it Marlo." said Tyler. "Can you put Dunbar on the line? I need to speak to him."

"Oh, of course! Right away!" replied Marlo. Tyler heard her set down the telecom and in the background, he heard several excited vices babbling on about something as well as what sounded like the loud popping of a cork. About 20 seconds later, he heard someone else going onto the telecom.

"Well done! Both of you!" congratulated Dunbar. "That worked out way better and way faster than we had expected. Now, I presume Blake is still doing his thing with the Roberts?"

Tyler turned on the tablet's camera and pointed it in the direction of the resort courtyard where he saw Blake freely mingling and laughing with Barbie, Ken, Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea. "Yep, as you can see from where you are, he's at it and going strong."

On the other end of his earpiece, he heard Dunbar laugh, almost jovially. "Yes, yes, I can see that! Now, I here's what I need you to do: stay away from the 6 of them for now. Even though it may not necessarily matter if you show yourself, I want as few of us observed as possible. Also, I need you to go up to your hotel suite and wait for Blake. When he gets back, I'll have the receptionist send you up some bottles of sparkling juice. I know I have no regard for drinking laws, but we can't risk you and Blake being seen underage with alcohol. When the time comes that you two come back here to base, we'll have a drink and you can join us."

"You got it Dunbar." said Tyler as he hung up. He cast one final glance up at the courtyard where Blake was seated with the Roberts and Ken. Before he could move, Blake noticed him and gave him a smirk and a thumbs-up from the other side of the deck. Tyler returned the thumbs-up and started off towards the entrance to the hotel.

In the large warehouse office on the other side of the island, Dunbar, Marlo, Norman, Blade, Joe, and the other henchmen were celebrating the completion of the 1st phase of their plan. Joe was taking another swig of booze, Norman blasted " _Straight Outta Compton"_ by NWA over the speakers, Blade was busy excitedly typing away on his laptop while Marlo and Dunbar were drinking some martinis and engaging in conversation.

" _You too boy, if you f**k with me! The police, are gonna have to come and get me! Off you're a**, that's how I'm going out!"_ blasted the speakers as Norman laughed crazily.

"We've finally done it Dunbar." Said Marlo. "We've infiltrated the Robert's inner circle.

" _Until them dumb motherf**kers see clearly, that I'm down with the capital C-P-T!"_

"What!? I can't hear you over the speakers!" yelled Dunbar.

" _Boy, you can't f**k with me! So when I'm in your neighborhood, you better duck!"_

"I SAID WE'VE FINALLY DONE IT! WE'VE INFILTRATED THEIR INNER CIRCLE!" yelled Marlo.

Dunbar looked surprised as he finally understood what Marlo was trying to tell him. "Oh, uh, yes, yes! Can barely hear anything over this damn music."

Marlo nodded in understanding, knowing it was pointless to try to carry on a conversation in the midst of all the pandemonium in the warehouse office. She beckoned Dunbar out into the hallway and he quickly followed. As soon as they were out of earshot, they both turned to face each other.

"Blake is doing very well." Said Dunbar. "But who says that he's the only one that can have a little fun?" he chuckled as he flashed Marlo a half-smirk and half-smile and fluttered his eyes.

Marlo sneered in return. "Yes, who says we can't." she replied as they both headed out of the warehouse towards the kitchen for some late night drinks and booze.

*** Author's Notes:

Blake's finally done it. He's infiltrated Barbie's inner circle without any of their knowledge. Also, Dunbar and Marlo begin to demonstrate some feelings for each other. Will we see some Dunbar x Marlo later on? Will Skipper be able to change Blake or will he successfully lure her into his, Dunbar, and Marlo's trap? Skipper x Blake romance in the next few chapters!

Disclaimer: _"Straight Outta Compton"_ is a song written by NWA in 1988. I DO NOT IN ANYWAY OWN IT.


	9. Doomed Date

For a few hours, Tyler waited in the suite playing games and sipping from one of the bottles of sparkling grape juice that had been brought up. Finally, at midnight, Blake came stumbling back in. He looked tired, but at the same time excited and triumphant.

"About time you got back." Said Tyler. "So, how did it go down there with them?"

Blake gave a triumphant half smile, half smirk. "Could not have gone better. Although Chelsea chewed my ear off after I first got there with all of her questions. The important thing is that I think I've gained their trust. Did you hear back from my cousin or Dunbar yet?"

"Heck yeah man. I video recorded you saving Skipper a head injury and your meeting with the Roberts afterwards. Dunbar is ecstatic and ready to move forward with the plan." replied Tyler.

Blake grinned. "Perfect. Than he's going to like this. Barbie is taking Stacie and Chelsea hang gliding tomorrow and of course, Skipper's not going because she's not one for extreme sport or adventure. So, she's agreed to spend a little 'date day' with me!"

"Oh sh*t, that's great news man! Care to settle for a drink before turning in for the night?" asked Tyler.

Blake studied the bottles of juice before relenting. "Eh, alright. Guess a little sugar never hurt." He said sitting down and taking a gulp from one of the bottles. "Be sure to save a bottle for tomorrow morning because I'm going to need it."

 _The next morning…_

Barbie was asleep in her bed dreaming about baking cupcakes with Chelsea when her imaginary kitchen vanished and she felt someone shaking her shoulder.

"Stacie, go back to sleep." She groaned as she rolled over.

"No Barbie! It's me Skipper!" said a voice to her right.

Barbie was now fully awake. Since when was Skipper the first one up? Turning over, she saw Skipper standing next to her bed, fully dressed into denim shorts and her pink shirt that read 'Paradise' across the front. Unlike most mornings, she looked fully alert and had a broad grin stretched across her face.

"Guess what day it is Barbie?" she asked excitedly.

Barbie thought for a moment before remembering their meeting with 'Seth' and realized that today was the day that Skipper was spending a 'date day' with him. Now, she too was fully awake since this was Skipper's first date in god knew how long.

"Okay Skipp, I'm up, I'm up!" she chuckled as she stretched her arms.

Skipper laughed and felt a small hand tugging at her shirt. Looking down, she saw Chelsea looking up at her excitedly.

"Did you say today was the day of your date? We need to give you a makeover!" she said excitedly.

Skipper chuckled nervously. "Uh, that's okay Chels, I don't think I need a _"

"Did Chelsea just say that Skipp's going on a date?" asked Stacie, who was now awake. "Heck yeah she need a makeover! I know she has a cute tropical floral blouse in her luggage!"

"And we can put some waves in the bottom half of hair like I had for my dance competition!" added Chelsea.

Barbie, Stacie, and Chelsea grabbed hair and makeup supplies and began converging on Skipper, who began backing off nervously.

"Uh guys, I uh, really don't need that much makeup and stuff." said Skipper, feeling a bit nervous.

Before she could do anything else, her sisters grabbed her and shoved her into the bathroom where they began excitedly began working on her. Barbie held Skipper down and applied some turquoise eye shadow to match Skipper's hair, Stacie fetched Skipper's tropical floral blouse, and Chelsea had whipped out the straightening irons and ran them through Skipper's hair. She then took a curling iron and used it to put some light curls in her older sister's hair before running the straighteners back through creating some light waves. When they were done, Barbie, Stacie, and Chelsea stood back to admire their work.

"What do you think Skipp?" asked Barbie.

Skipper nervously turned to the mirror not knowing what to expect. As soon as she saw herself, she gasped with surprise. She barely recognized the girl hat was staring back at her! The area above her eyes was light turquoise and glittery from the eye shadow, she wasn't used to wearing blouses, but the tropical floral looked great, and her normally straight hair had some light waves in it.

"OMG Barbie! I don't even recognize myself! Thank you all so much!" said Skipper as she hugged her sisters.

"No prob Skipp! Now get out there and get him!" smiled Barbie encouragingly.

"And bring us back some pictures!" added Stacie.

Skipper gave a thumbs up. "Okay, will do! I'll see you guys tonight!" she said as she grabbed her phone, waist pack, and headed out the door.

Meanwhile in the lobby of the hotel, Blake was waiting for Skipper. He was so preoccupied thinking about what they were going to do for the day that he didn't notice Skipper coming up from behind him.

"Hey Seth!" said Skipper. Blake was so startled, he whirled around to see Skipper chuckling at him.

"What? Did I startle you?" she asked nervously.

Blake quickly regained his composition. "No, no. It's okay!" He then looked Skipper up and down. "Gosh Skipp, you look hot!"

Skipper gasped. No boy had ever called her 'hot' before! Her cheeks turned red with embarrassment and she couldn't hide her smile.

Blake noticed this and decided to take the initiative to take Skipper off someplace where they could talk. "So uh, you want to go for a coffee and talk a bit?" he asked.

Skipper perked up at the word 'coffee'. "Uh, yeah sure!" she said as they headed off to a nearby café where they ordered iced coffee and sat down.

"So Skipp, can you tell me about yourself?" asked Blake as they settled in.

Skipper thought for a moment. "Well, I'm 16 years old, as you saw already I have 3 sisters: Barbie, Stacie and Chelsea, and I have an online blog. Do you want to know more about them?"

Blake smiled and shifted his shoulders. "Sure, why not?"

"Well, Barbie is a famous fashion designer and super model. She goes around the world to meet other fashion designers and help them solve problems and she always takes us which is why I travel so much. Stacie is an all-out athlete. She can play any sport and she enjoyed dragging me, Barbie, and Chelsea on her wild adventures, but I think she's mellowed down a bit. I swear, she's going to be an Olympic athlete someday! As for Chelsea, she's really something special! She sings, dances, loves reading about science, and is into fashion and anything girly. She's Barbie's mirror image!" said Skipper.

Blake chuckled. "Sounds like she's gonna be the next Barbie Roberts someday in the fashion world!"

They both laughed before Blake spoke up again with another question.

"Is there anything that you enjoy doing in your spare time? Any hobbies?" he asked.

Skipper thought. "I have my own online blog in which I post pictures and videos I take during my travels. I absolutely love anything techy and that involves gadgets! I love music, photography, and video games!"

Blake perked up. "Did you say you love video games? I freaking love video games! I like _Call of Duty, GTA 5,_ and _Monstrum._ I have my laptop on my right here. Do you want to go back to the hotel and play some games on it? Oh, by the way, love the turquoise hair."

Skipper smiled. "OMG, I'd love that! And thanks! Purple is my favorite color, but I like to switch it up a bit."

With that, the pair headed back to the hotel and up to Barbie, Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea's room. The room was empty since Barbie, Stacie, and Chelsea had gone hang gliding, but their stuff was all over the place. Blake made his way to the desk and as he was plugging in his laptop, another question occurred to him.

"Hey Skipp, are there any particular video games you like playing?" he asked.

"The game that I play the most is _Call of Fashion 3_. It's the best!" Skipper answered.

Skipper giggled when she saw Blake grimace at the mention of a girly video game. "But I've always wanted to try scary video games. Do you have any?"

Blake grinned. "My favorite scary games are _Outlast, Emily Wants to Play Too,_ and _Monsrum._ Do you want to check out _Monstrum_ with me?"

"Sure, why not" replied Skipper as Blake began loading the game. "So, uh, how do you play it?"

Blake figured out how to word it as the game loaded. "Basically you're trapped on a ship in the middle of the ocean and there are 3 escape routes: a helicopter, a submarine, and a life raft. In order to use any of them, you have to search the ship for numerous objects needed to activate them. Here's the catch: you have 3 monsters roaming the ship that want to kill you and you have to find the items needed to activate the escape routes while evading the monsters. The 3 monsters include The Brute who is a large, hulking orange monster, The Hunter who is a slender skeletal monster, and The Fiend who is a demonic ghost of some sort."

Skipper grinned. "Sounds challenging."

"It is." Replied Blake. "I've never been able to pass it and each time I play it, I get the sh*t scared of my sh*t!"

Skipper chuckled as Blake began navigating around the ship. As he entered a room, he picked up a flashlight, a glow stick, and a fuse.

"You use the flashlight and glow stick to see in the dark, and the fuse can be used to restore power in certain rooms." Blake explained to a now interested Skipper.

He moved around the ship some more before a loud siren sound was heard echoing in the hallway. Blake hit a button on the keyboard and began running down the hallway.

"When you hear that siren sound, it means that a monster is nearby and you have to scram!" he said.

He moved into a room that contained a large desk and some security cameras. "Oh sh*t, there's nowhere to hid in this room!"

Suddenly, a large orange brute-like monster came into the room and grabbed Blake. "Oh sh*t, he got me! He got me!" yelled Blake before a loud crunching sound was heard and the screen went black.

Skipper laughed. "Did you just die?" she asked giggling.

Blake sighed. "Yep."

Skipper smirked. "Well, I'll bet I can last longer than you!" she challenged.

Blake moved aside show Skipper could sit down at the laptop. "Go ahead, but let me tell you, I've been playing this for months and I've not lasted longer than 15 or so minutes."

Skipper rolled her eyes and stated a new game. In the first room, she picked up a flashlight, 2 glow sticks, and another fuse. Moving on into the hallway, she went into another room that had a bunch of tables and picked up a container of gasoline.

"That's the gas for the helicopter! Damn, you're making progress!" said an impressed Blake.

Skipper giggled and continued moving thought the different rooms, she picked up a flare gun from a room with bunk beds, a welding kit from an engine room, and a headlight from a cargo hold. As she was heading down a hallway, a purple mist appeared a distance away and an evil laugh was heard followed by the emergence of a shadow figure.

"Oh sh*t, it's the f**king ghost! Run Skipp, run!" yelled Blake as Skipper pressed a key on the laptop o run.

Skipper felt adrenaline pump through her veins as she moved down the hallway trying to find a hiding place. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Is he gonna get me?"

"Go in there! Go in there!" yelled Blake as Skipper turned into a room that contained a row of lockers and got into one.

"Oh my god, f**king close that sh*t!" said Blake as Skipper pressed another key to close the locker. The locker slammed shut with a loud bang.

"Oh my god, this motherf**ker don't know how to do sh*t gently!" exclaimed Blake, referring to the guy in game.

"What the heck was that?" asked Skipper.

"That's The Fiend. It's a ghost that gets you and sucks your soul." Said Blake. "Oh, sh*t, he's coming into the room!"

Sure enough, the ghost came into the room that Skipper was hiding in and began looking around. As the ghost turned away to leave, Blake smirked.

"That b***h is stupid, he a stupid a** ghost!" he chuckled as the ghost left and Skipper exited the locker to proceed further down the hall.

A minute or so later, loud stomping noises were heard from down the hallway and a huge, hulking orange monster appeared, roared, and began chasing Skipper as the music began playing.

"He saw you, but that's okay, we're gonna lose him." Said Blake as Skipper navigated up a flight of stairs, down a hallway and over to another flight of stairs where the music stopped.

"Okay, that music is stopping so we're good. I think we should read the objective tab." Said Blake as Skipper opened the objective tab.

She began reading aloud. "There are some fuse boxes scattered about. Maybe if I can find some fuses, I can put them to use."

Just then, the music played again and the Skipper exited the objective tab to see the monster heading towards her!

"Oh sh*t! You see that's why I don't f**k with reading! Run! Run!" yelled Blake.

Skipper tried running down the stairs, but the monster caught her and the screen went blank. Blake and Skipper stared at the screen in awe.

"Holey moley that was exhilarating!" exclaimed Skipper as she sat back. "I'm actually sweating from that!"

Blake laughed. "It sure was! You actually lasted longer than I ever did against those 2 monsters."

After a few moments of silence, Skipper spoke up again. "You cuss a lot when you play games don't you?" she asked smirking.

"Aw hell yeah!" replied Blake. "You have anything else in mind to do today?"

"I'm completely okay with just playing video games all day." Said Skipper.

Blake chuckled. "That's okay be me! I don't feel like getting up!"

That being said, Blake and Skipper started a new game of _Monstrum_ and played until about 4:00 in the afternoon when Barbie, Stacie, and Chelsea got back. Barbie opened the hotel room door to see Skipper and Blake seated at the desk still playing _Monstrum_. Skipper and Blake were both leaning over the laptop as roaring sounds were heard in the background.

"Go! Go!" yelled Blake. "Oh wait, go up those stairs!"

Barbie, Stacie, and Chelsea put down their things and watched the pair with amusement as Skipper tried running up stairwell to avoid the large, orange brute, but the brute appeared from next to her in a different corridor!

"Oh sh*t!" It got you!" exclaimed Blake as the screen went blank and Skipper leaned back to take a breather.

"Whoa! That was INTENSE!" she sighed, smiling.

Barbie, Stacie, and Chelsea laughed. "Wow Skipp, sounds like you two had quite a day!" giggled Barbie.

Skipper looked over and laughed. "You could say that I guess!"

Blake gave a fake smile and gathered up his things. "Well Skipp, it's been fun, but I have to head out now. Glad you liked the video games."

He prepared to head out the door when Barbie spoke up.

"Wait Seth! I was wondering if you'd like to hang out with us tomorrow if you can!" she said.

"Yeah!" piped up Chelsea. "We're gonna bake cupcakes! Sure you don't want any?"

Blake looked back and thought for a moment. _If they're baking cupcakes tomorrow, maybe I can sneak some of the knockouts into the batter and knock them all out. Then, Dunbar's guys can come in and take Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea! Ha! Ha! Ha! That's it!_ He turned to face Barbie, an almost genuine smile on his face.

"Uh, sure! If you want to!" he answered. "I can show Skipp a few more of the games I have on my PC."

"I'd love that!" said Skipper.

Barbie smiled. "Well then, that's settled. Be here after lunchtime if you can and we can head out to the beach for a snack picnic where we'll eat."

"Alright, will do. Bye Skipp, see you tomorrow!" said Blake as he exited the room.

As soon as Blake was gone, Stacie didn't hesitate to comment.

"Did you two seriously play video games all day?" she asked with slight amusement.

Skipper gave Stacie and odd look. "No actually. We went for coffee first." She then got up and headed towards the bathroom. "I'll tell you more about it later Stac. I'm going to change out of this blouse, wash off the makeup, and straighten my hair." She said as she went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

In the meantime, Blake had gone downstairs to the lobby where the receptionist was waiting for him. Once there was no one else in the lobby, Blake went back behind the main desk and into the back office where he called up Dunbar. In a few seconds, Dunbar and Marlo appeared on the screen of his phone.

"So Blake, how did it go?" asked Dunbar with curiosity.

Blake smirked. "It went perfectly. I showed Skipper some of my video games and I think that she and her sisters fully trust me. I have some good news too."

The last sentence caught Marlo's attention. "What sort of good news?" she asked.

"Well, Barbie is baking some cupcakes tomorrow with her sisters and going on a picnic. They invited me along to help out and hang out with Skipper. I was thinking that if you can send over some knockouts, I can put them into the cupcake batter and knock all 4 of them out. Once they're unconscious, you send in some of your guys and we nab the 3 of them that we need."

On the other end of the line, Dunbar and Marlo considered this carefully. Dunbar pondered how many henchmen he could spare for the task and how they could get a vehicle into the beach vicinity without attracting too much attention. Finally, after some thoughts, he decided to consent to Blake's plan.

"What you thought of is a great plan Blake! It's crazy enough to actually might work. I'll have Joe and Marty make arrangements to get you the knockout and the vehicle in there tomorrow." Dunbar stated.

Blake nodded. "All right. See you tomorrow evening then." He then hung up.

On the other side of the island, Dunbar closed down his phone before turning to Joe. "Joe, I need you and Marty to fetch some of those knockouts and have them delivered to my associates in the resort. Once that's done, I need you both to go with some of my henchmen into Avalon. It's go time.""

Joe half grinned, half smirked. "You got it boss! Finally, a chance to get back at those four little girls! I'm gonna enjoy this!" he said as he got up and left.

Once he was gone, Marlo turned to Joe with a giddy smirk on her face. "So Joe, we're actually doing it huh?" she asked. "Heh! Heh! Heh! I've always wanted the chance to deal with those snooping brats personally!"

Dunbar smirked back. "Oh believe me, you'll have plenty of time for that once we have them!" _And so will I!_ He thought. He lit a cigar and exhaled the smoke with a deep sigh. Now was the time. Tomorrow, he, Marlo, Blake, Joe and Marty would make attempt number one at nabbing the Roberts girls.


	10. Important Author's Message

Author's Message:

Hi guys! I have a few important things I want to tell you all:

Firstly, I am currently putting _Barbie: Revenge, Redemption, and Realization_ **'On Hold'** to get my writing and personal lives under control before college. I've also hit a few road blocks with the plot as it's getting a bit out of control on my drafts and I need a little bit of time to think it through and revise. I may re-write the whole story and create a fanfic sequel to _Barbie: Dolphin Magic_ instead. If that's the case, I'll leave what's left of the original on, but how it ends may be left up to you as the viewers.

 **Don't worry though, this is far from the end! I will resume publication in as soon as I can!**

Second, I will, however continue publishing and updating for 1 of my other fanfics; _The Modern Adventures of Thomas and Friends_ as often as I can.

 **Additionally, I have started work on a few other fanfics, including a few short adventure/mystery stories that I will begin publishing in slight advance of the release of the new series** _ **Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures**_ **by Mattel Productions on March 31, 2018.** (If you can find a way to access it online, go check it out when it's released!) It's been hard to come up with ideas and plots recently, but don't worry! I'll think of more things as I go!

Most importantly, I want to thank you all for the views, favs, and follows you've all given me so far! It's been a relatively turbulent, but also productive year in the writing field so far and seeing all the views, reviews, favs, and follow on all 4 of my stories so far just makes me want to keep dreaming and keep writing!

See you all in early spring and on _The Modern Adventures of Thomas and Friends_!

-Writer in Da House


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